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Senate Republicans Filibuster DISCLOSE Act

Two years after filibustering the DISCLOSE Act of 2010 to death and blocking any disclosure for who is funding the the independent expenditures enabled by the Supreme Court’s 5–4 Citizens United ruling, Republicans have again blocked transparency. While the 2010 version included other campaign finance reforms, the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 was pared down to only require disclosure of the funders of $10,000-and-larger independent political expenditures. But Republicans, led by former disclosure advocate Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY) still blocked the measure, incredibly calling it “nothing less than an effort by the government itself to expose its critics to harassment and intimidation.” The Senate vote failed on a party-lines 51–44, falling 9 votes short of the needed 60, though Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) voted “no” for procedural reasons.